Louisa struggles with shots in loss to Patriots

Five seconds after Louisa lost the tip to start off their home matchup versus Albemarle on Friday, Jan. 3, Patriots forward KK Barbour snagged a pass for an easy layup to give the visiting team a 2-0 lead.

The tone for the game was set. Using an up-tempo approach on both sides of the ball, Albemarle (5-4) swarmed Louisa (5-6) on every possession en route to a 54-26 victory.

“At any given moment, they had four or five players on the floor who could do it all, and that’s tough to guard,” Lions head coach Jarred Soles said.

Offensively for the Lions, the task was just as tough. Louisa couldn’t get off easy shot attempts, and the Lady Lions had only two points to show for their efforts as the first quarter came to an end. By halftime, the Patriots held a 23-10 advantage, with Barbour already scoring 10 of her game-high 19 points.

The Patriots used a mixture of sets and defensive traps out of various zones to force the Lions out of their rhythm. Louisa committed 29 turnovers, nine more than their season average, and their 26 points was Louisa’s second lowest total of the season.

“Albemarle’s traps were really aggressive,” Soles said. “When they trap, they trap so far outside that you really can’t run an offense. You really just have to set in a diamond and work it to the open spot, so their style takes away a lot of options. It comes down to if you can catch and pass, both through the traps and around the traps, and we struggled with that.”

To read the entire story, see the Jan. 9 edition of The Central Virginian.